Insights

Here are the insights for VR haptic design for emotional experiences we gained through prototyping and playtesting throughout the semester. To read the insights gained from reading previous works or research in this field, please read here.

UX and VR Design Principles

• Different patterns should not coexist together (like telekinesis and pinch) if they lead to confusion.
• One interaction should lead to the next
• Work player assumption and build on expectation
  • We have to teach people
• Different UI to distinguish between interactions people can and cannot do.
  • Ticking metronome from Before Your Eyes

Overall Haptic Design Principles

• Constrain agency but give agency.
  • For gestures
  • Precision of haptic feedback
• While there is no force feedback, vibrations itself often influences how a person curls their hands.
• Pattern that matches internal sensations
• Arbitrary feelings can be accepted for non-existent new stuffs like hand dissolving
• Haptics work well with
  • Sense memory, common sensation
    • Including magical feelings
• haptics supports multimedia. movement (gesture), sound, visuals, narrative (story). Play a role in emotional reaction.
  • And vice versa

Prototypes 1 (Technical Proof of Concepts)

Our first batch of prototypes came after we received the gloves, and building on the design ideas generated during summer, we created 4 prototypes with the goals: 1. test the haptic glove capability and constraints. 2. get familiarized with the sdk provided by bHaptics. 3. create proof of concepts to understand the possible opportunities and bottlenecks we might face. The prototypes and insights are summarized as follows.

Rain, Telekinesis, Elastic Band

Each of these three prototypes serve a different purpose.

• Rain: through designing around a rain scene, we tried designing a context that respects the activity given the haptic experience, (e.g. put players under an umbrella so it makes sense to only feel rain on hand when reached out.) We also tested with adding music mid-experience to see if it changes the emotional response.
• Telekinesis: from our summer design sprints, we believed that our opportunity lie in creating experiences that are not sensory, but imagined with a sensational memory. Telekinesis has not been experienced before, but people have a sensed memory related to it, we tested if controlling a heavy rock vs. a tennis ball is effective to the experience.
• Elastic Band: Initially a gold spike using the controllers before the gloves arrived, we tested what feedback users expect from an action of pulling on a tightening elastic band.

Haptic Design Insights

• Interactivity level drives a desire for matching haptic intractability.
  • From the rain…..
• Spatial positioning and context matters for correct mental imagery of haptics.
  • From the rain
• Haptic patterns are diverse and peoples actions are equally diverse.
  • fdjaskl;

Haptic Patterns (Effective primitives)

Stepping back from contextual prototypes, we decided to explore the most basic haptic primitives we can achieve using the vibrotactile gloves. Our goals are to 1. determine which haptic patterns are clearly identifiable without context. 2. what imageries are sparked by the haptic patterns itself.

To do so, we generated a list of haptic patterns by categorizing parameters found in research, and conducted a playtest with playtesters trying out the 15 patterns, describing their sensational feelings (sensitivity), trying out different gestures that might go well with the patterns, and talking about their wild guesses of what those patterns are, and giving feedback on how the patterns could better represent what we intended it to be after we revealed what we were simulating.

The list of haptics patterns are: Explosion, Poke, Breathing, Slap, Tension, Stun, Crushing, Residual Impact, Heartbeat, Heat, Pinch, Train Track, Select, Chainsaw, Stroke.

Haptic Design Insights

• Certain haptic events can mean multiple things.
  • Such as
• Certain haptic events can only explicitly mean something.
  • Such as heartbeat.
• This disparity is more on lack of context and when filled gains immediate realization.
  • Context includes movement (gestures), visual hints, and audio feedback.
  • For example, slap and crushing were immediately recognized when the movements of slapping and crushing were executed, whereas previously they were described to be “random”.
• Haptics needs events to happen in order to make the most sense for something other than basic hand actions.
• People move their fingers according to the vibrations.
  • When intensity goes up, some people close to their fists.

Prototypes 2 (Contexts and emotions)

After gaining insights into the most effective patterns, we prioritized 6 of them that we are using as candidates for our final main haptic interaction to develop prototypes for testing how contexts and emotions are experienced with haptics. Our goals were 1. to test if the haptic patterns felt out of place for certain audio and visual contexts. 2. the emotional impact the given contexts can influence a same pattern.

Heartbeat, Pinch, Slap, Breathing, Crushing, Stroke

• Heartbeat: changing the frequency (how fast, how slow) the heart beats.
• Slap: changing the sounds when slapping a balloon.
• Pinch: pinching little humans from a table where they are prompted by text to be different characters (dad, you ex, a king, etc.)
• Breathing: changing the content you interact to gain energy and release it. (healing water and goo)
• Crushing:
• Stroke:

Haptic Design Insights

• Emotional connection is apparent with haptics and drives it further.
• Tough decisions make tough interactions. When does context have to be constrained in order for the actions to make sense?
• Well designed and intended patterns are effective with clear subject expressions following.